Echo AUDIOFIRE 2, Owner'S Manual

Page 1: ...AUDIOFIRE 2 AUDIOFIRE 4 AUDIOFIRE 8 AUDIOFIRE 12 ...

Page 2: ...Owner s Manual Version 2 0 for Macintosh ...

Page 3: ...ho product If you are unsure about the type of power at your location contact your local power company 8 Grounding Precautions should be taken so that the grounding capabilities of the unit are not undermined The AudioFire12 and AudioFire8 are provided with a cord with an equipment grounding conductor and grounding plug This plug must be plugged into an outlet that is properly installed and ground...

Page 4: ...nician when any of the following occur a Objects have fallen or liquid has spilled into the unit b The product has been exposed to rain or water c The product does not operate normally or when a marked change in performance is noticed d The product has been dropped or damaged in any way ...

Page 5: ... the Echo Service Department Unauthorized service repair or modification will void this warranty To obtain factory service Contact Echo Digital Audio Corporation at 805 684 4593 9AM to 4PM Monday through Friday Pacific Time If necessary you will be given a return authorization number Products returned without an RA number will be refused Echo may at its option require proof of the original date of...

Page 6: ...interia CA 93013 Echo and AudioFire are trademarks of Echo Digital Audio Corporation Tracktion is a trademark of LOUD Technologies Inc Apple FireWire iTunes iMovie iDVD Mac Macintosh Mac OS Power Mac PowerBook QuickTime and GarageBand are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc ...

Page 7: ...CONSOLE 28 RUNNING THE CONSOLE 28 AUTOMATIC FLASH UPDATE 28 CONSOLE WINDOW 28 BUS SELECT TABS 29 MASTER OUTPUT BUS CONTROL 30 ANALOG INPUTS 30 DIGITAL INPUTS AUDIOFIRE2 AUDIOFIRE4 AND AUDIOFIRE8 33 PLAYBACK CONTROLS 33 ADJUSTING PLAYBACK VOLUME 34 NOMINAL LEVELS 34 SETTINGS TAB 35 Clock Source 36 S PDIF Format 36 Version Information 37 CONSOLE SETTINGS AND STAND ALONE MODE 38 SYNCHRONIZING MULTIPL...

Page 8: ...APPENDIX B AN INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL RECORDING 48 APPENDIX C SPECIFICATIONS 55 INDEX 63 ...

Page 9: ... you opened the box you should have found the following An audio interface box Four mounting screws with collars Two removable rack mount brackets AudioFire8 and AudioFire12 only A FireWire cable A power cable or power adapter A CD ROM containing Mac OS X Drivers Windows XP Drivers PDF Owner s Manual Tracktion multitrack recording MIDI editing and sampling software for Mac OS X Windows XP HTML Tra...

Page 10: ...tosh computer desktop or notebook with Mac OS X 10 3 9 or later An unused FireWire port A G4 or better processor G5 recommended A minimum 256Mb of RAM 512Mb highly recommended A fast high capacity IDE SCSI or FireWire hard disk drive Peripheral audio equipment such as a mixer microphones studio monitors musical instruments etc 10 Introduction ...

Page 11: ... the bottom labeled Allow user to administer this computer is checked If your account does not have administrative access then you will need to log out and log in with an account that does Check OS X Version OS X version 10 3 9 or later is required use your AudioFire product If you have a version lower than 10 3 9 your AudioFire product may not install or may not function properly To check your OS...

Page 12: ...ing the box in a rack then be sure to place the interface box in a secure location 3 If you have AudioFire8 or AudioFire12 plug the power cable firmly into the interface and a power socket and then turn on the interface by pressing the power button If you have AudioFire2 or AudioFire4 your AudioFire can be powered directly through FireWire No external power supply is needed The DC adapter is inclu...

Page 13: ...on for the firmware update to load properly You should also check the website periodically in the future in case any more updates are released at a later time 6 You can now attach external audio devices to the connectors on the AudioFire interface box Information on attaching external devices to the audio interface box may be found in the following section Connecting to the Audio Interface 13 Inst...

Page 14: ...dicator light and an 1 8 stereo headphone output jack with a corresponding volume knob which monitors analog outputs 3 and 4 labeled Headphones in the AudioFire Console The analog inputs operate with an input impedance of 10Kohms AudioFire2 has two analog line outputs on the rear panel The input and output connections can be used with balanced or unbalanced cables via the connectors By default the...

Page 15: ...l These analog inputs 3 4 operate with an input impedance of 10Kohms The input and output connections can be used with balanced or unbalanced cables via the connectors By default the inputs and outputs are set to receive or send a 4dBu signal You can switch between 4dBu and 10dBV for each individual input and output via the console software see section below Analog Inputs and Outputs AudioFire8 Au...

Page 16: ...ons can be used with balanced or unbalanced cables via the connectors By default the inputs and outputs are set to receive or send a 4dBu signal You can switch between 4dBu and 10dBV for each individual input and output via the console software see section below There are also two channel inserts on the rear panel where you can connect a serial effects device compressor EQ etc for the universal in...

Page 17: ...ne inputs On AudioFire8 to enable phantom power press the button labeled 48v on your audio interface box the LED next to it will light up and phantom power will be provided to all microphone inputs Note Phantom power will not be applied to any line level equipment or guitars plugged in using cables with connectors To record a guitar or line level signal just plug a cable with a connector into one ...

Page 18: ...hat you can be conservative in this area and there is no need to push the input levels right up to the edge of clipping Analog Inputs and Outputs AudioFire12 AudioFire12 s front panel has meters for the twelve analog inputs and outputs indicator lights for sample rate and clock synchronization and a power button with an amber power indicator light not shown below AudioFire12 has twelve analog line...

Page 19: ...te at 400 Mbps and are used to connect the audio interface to your computer and to other FireWire devices These connectors do not pass power from the computer to other FireWire devices so other devices will require external power to function A FireWire cable was supplied with your AudioFire product S PDIF AudioFire4 and AudioFire8 Next to the FireWire connectors on the back of AudioFire4 and Audio...

Page 20: ...gnals between your digital audio MIDI sequencing software and external sound modules keyboards MIDI controllers etc MIDI cabling is standardized and widely available MIDI and S PDIF Dongle AudioFire2 To conserve the space on your AudioFire2 the MIDI and S PDIF ports are located on an external cable included with your AudioFire2 This cable connects to the MiniDIN connector on the back of your Audio...

Page 21: ...trollers etc MIDI cabling is highly standardized and widely available Word Clock AudioFire8 and AudioFire12 only Next to the MIDI ports are the Word Clock connectors These connectors allow you to synchronize your Echo product to any other device equipped with a Word Clock connector The Word Clock I O uses a BNC connector As with the S PDIF I O a shielded 75 ohm RG 59 coaxial video cable should be ...

Page 22: ...y Open System Preferences from the Dock or Apple menu select Show All and select the Sound panel Under the Output tab you should see your AudioFire product listed as a sound output device If you want to use your AudioFire product with iTunes iDVD iMovie QuickTime etc you will need to select it as the sound output device 22 Software Configuration ...

Page 23: ...ion Go to your Applications folder on your hard disk and from there to the Utilities folder Open Audio MIDI Setup In addition to listing all the audio devices in the system Audio MIDI Setup lets you examine the various audio formats supported by the hardware in your Mac 23 Software Configuration ...

Page 24: ... display the available CoreMIDI devices You should see your AudioFire product shown as an icon here Next you ll want to install Tracktion and learn about the AudioFire Console software Both are covered in the following sections of this manual 24 Software Configuration ...

Page 25: ...ations folder Tracktion comes with an HTML Quick start Guide and help files that you can open from the Help button inside Tracktion So you ll be able to get up and running with a minimum of hassles hopefully none at all You can also access the Tracktion Quick start Guide and help files with the F12 key on your keyboard Authorize your copy of Tracktion Your copy of Tracktion will run in demo mode u...

Page 26: ...racktion uses pop up help to tell you about the interface Note that whenever you click on something you will see any available details controls or settings for it in the information windows at the bottom middle of the screen You can learn a lot just by clicking on things and reading the pop up help You can also access a quick start guide and a more detailed help document by clicking on the help bu...

Page 27: ...the Projects tab at the top of the screen and select one of the sample projects that come with Tracktion 7 You will see a listing of all the files for that project in the large area to the right Double click on the file with the same name as the project This will open the project 8 Now click on the play button in the bottom right section of the screen and you ll hear the sample project with your n...

Page 28: ...stallation and double clicking on the icon Alternatively you can drag the icon to the Dock for easier access and just open it from there Automatic Flash Update As the console starts up it checks the firmware that is loaded in each AudioFire If the AudioFire is running old firmware a dialog will come up requesting your confirmation to update the firmware If you click Yes the firmware will be update...

Page 29: ...d either Analog or S PDIF and a channel number pair When you select a tab it will come to the front and the other tab titles will be gray In this case Analog 1 2 is the currently selected output bus Clicking on an output bus tab simply selects the settings that are displayed This means all input monitor parameters such as volume pan and mute only apply to the audio coming out analog outputs 1 and ...

Page 30: ...rs affect everything being mixed to this bus Thus pulling the fader down will make both the input monitors and playback quieter The level meters display the amount of signal being sent out of the selected outputs The gang button sets the gang mode If you are in gang mode the mute buttons will work together for the left and right channels for example clicking the mute on one channel activates the m...

Page 31: ... input monitor controls you will need to select a different output bus see the Bus Select section above The level meters do not change when a different output bus is selected They always reflect the signal level being received on the inputs In the example above you can see that the signal level on the ANALOG Out 1 2 meters is less than that on the input meters This is because the ANALOG 1 2 faders...

Page 32: ... the input level meters for Analog input 1 2 At the top of each input channel below the label is a green label field that can be changed by clicking in it and typing Below the label is the nominal level setting for that input channel The labels nominal levels level meters and gang settings are the only things in this section that do not change when different output bus tabs are selected Moving dow...

Page 33: ...ollowed by the monitor fader which controls the input monitor level Like the pan solo and mute controls this does not affect your recording level The faders also have gang buttons and their operation is the same as the gang button for the master output bus controls Digital Inputs AudioFire2 AudioFire4 and AudioFire8 The controls for the digital inputs can found to the right of the analog input con...

Page 34: ...er When the playback volume controls are set to 0dB and the input signal approaches the maximum pre clipping level you can achieve the full 24 bit dynamic range of the system Nominal Levels The console buttons that are labeled 4 or 10 are nominal level buttons These buttons allow you to change the nominal level settings for the analog inputs and outputs By default the levels are set to send a 4dBu...

Page 35: ...b Clicking the Settings tab allows you to access settings for controlling your AudioFire hardware The Settings page includes the sample rate clock source S PDIF format and version information The AudioFire8 Console Window Analog Out 3 4 Tab selected ...

Page 36: ...lock source The clock source setting is used to synchronize your AudioFire hardware to another piece of audio hardware If a given synchronization source input clock is not detected that clock source will be grayed out You will only be allowed to select input clocks that are currently connected For more information please refer to Synchronizing Multiple Devices later in this manual If an external c...

Page 37: ...put to Consumer Select the appropriate format for your DAT CD recorder or Mini Disc recorder if you don t know which one to use and are having difficulties simply try the one that is not currently checked Note No Echo hardware transmits the SCMS bit regardless of which format is selected Version Information This section displays version information for all the components of your AudioFire system T...

Page 38: ...gs will be recalled when you reboot your AudioFire or move it to another computer Your AudioFire need not be connected to a computer to operate This is called stand alone mode Simply set the mixer setting as you desire in the console and close the console to save those settings to flash memory Then when you turn on your AudioFire those settings will automatically be loaded into the AudioFire s int...

Page 39: ...ct is set to Internal this synchronization clock runs at the AudioFire product s selected sample rate Think of it as a kind of electronic metronome which clicks back and forth at the digital sample rate It is one of the most widely used forms of synchronization in digital audio Your AudioFire product is always generating Word Clock on its Word Clock output BNC connector Although it can generate Wo...

Page 40: ...e more complicated set up You want to have an AudioFire8 synchronized to another device via word clock Simply set the AudioFire8 to Internal for its input clock Now connect the AudioFire8 to the other device via a BNC cable running from Word Clock Out on the AudioFire8 to Word Clock In on other device Now select Word for the other device s input sync The other device will slave to your AudioFire8 ...

Page 41: ...he next AudioFire In this manner each AudioFire must be daisy chained The first AudioFire in the chain is the clock master the rest are clock slaves On the Settings tab of the AudioFire Console you must set each AudioFire to the correct clock settings The clock master should be set to Internal clock and the slaves should be set to Word clock or S PDIF If these settings are changed while audio is r...

Page 42: ...l your AudioFire a 4 digit number will be appended giving it a unique name So if you install multiple AudioFires each will have a unique number In the installation examples above the AudioFire is designated AudioFire8 0312 In the Console examples the AudioFire is designated AudioFire8 0409 This is because two different audio interfaces were used This name will appear in your Sound panel and your A...

Page 43: ...er system your audio software and hardware and the problem you are having We do ask you to please read through this manual and the support area of our website before contacting us Also you may find an answer to your problem in the Appendices of this document starting on the next page Thank you for buying an Echo product Contacting Mackie Customer Service Note All Tracktion support issues are handl...

Page 44: ...n of OS X may be out of date Try running Software Update you ll find it in the System Preferences You need version 10 3 9 or later Problem You can t use more than one Echo product at a time with your audio software Solution This is a limitation of your audio software Currently Apple s CoreAudio spec does allow multiple hardware devices to be used simultaneously by an audio software program but mos...

Page 45: ...cording to the user s needs In consumer products the SCMS bit is always enabled Unfortunately there is no way for the transmitting device to automatically detect which format the receiving device is able to accept If you have a DAT deck that is not able to read the S PDIF output from your AudioFire chances are it is transmitting in the mode that the deck is not equipped to handle We have provided ...

Page 46: ... seem obvious the first thing to check is that there is a physical connection between the device generating the clock and your AudioFire product Just because multiple devices are connected to the same computer doesn t mean they are synchronized Next be sure that you have selected the desired input clock source in the Console for your AudioFire product and that the sample rate matches the incoming ...

Page 47: ... the left or right channel doesn t work Solution You may have a bad audio cable Try using a different cable in the problem channel Problem There is no sound unless I pull the audio plug out a little Solution Not all plugs are made to the exact same dimensions Try a plug cable from a different manufacturer ...

Page 48: ...the input that is read This number is called a sample The number of samples taken per second is called the sample rate On playback the process happens in reverse The series of numbers is played back through a digital to analog converter or DAC which converts the numbers back into an analog signal This signal can then be sent to an amplifier and speakers for listening In computers binary numbers ar...

Page 49: ...oming signal can be represented by any of over 16 million possible values The output DACs are also 24 bit again over 16 million values are possible The S PDIF inputs and outputs also support signals with up to 24 bit resolution Your Echo product processes signals internally with 24 bit resolution to insure that there is no degradation to the audio signal as it is processed through the system The n...

Page 50: ... disks are capable of storing large amounts of data though the performance of hard drives can vary substantially The speed and size of your hard drive will be a major determining factor in how many tracks of audio you will be able to simultaneously record and playback Decibels Audio signal levels are generally expressed in units called decibels which are abbreviated as dB This is a logarithmic sca...

Page 51: ... today s equipment uses impedances other than 600 ohms it is more useful to represent signals by voltages rather than power and the dBu unit was introduced A signal level of 0dBu is identical to a level of 0dBm Digital signals after they are recorded no longer directly represent any physical quantity such as voltage or power and 0dB is generally used to represent a full scale or maximum signal lev...

Page 52: ...both the plus and minus inputs This is called common mode noise since it is common to both signals and the input amplifier will subtract the noise on the minus input from the noise on the plus input If the input amplifier is perfectly balanced and the noise on both plus and minus is precisely equal the noise will completely cancel out In the real world this is not the case and some of the common m...

Page 53: ...ith no signal present A system with a high dynamic range will be quieter than one with a lower dynamic range Dynamic range is a very important specification and your echo product uses converters that have very high dynamic range Theoretically a 24 bit system has a dynamic range of 144dB and a 16 bit system has a dynamic range of 96dB Two questions immediately come to mind 1 Why does my Echo produc...

Page 54: ...mpressed or amplified after it is recorded and that some headroom is necessary when recording to avoid clipping The only way that 96dB would be adequate is if all music were recorded so that the peaks were just under full scale and no compression or amplification was going to be applied after recording Any time recorded music is amplified so is the noise at the low end Your Echo product has enough...

Page 55: ... 0dBFS to 100dBFS Nominal Input Level 4dBu or 10dBV Input Impedance 10Kohms Maximum Input Level 18dBu Analog Outputs x2 balanced TRS Frequency Response 10Hz to 20kHz 0 1dB Dynamic Range 114dB A weighted THD n 0 002 A weighted Nominal Output Level 4dBu or 10dBV Maximum Output Level 17 2dBu Headphone Output x1 stereo mini Frequency Response 10Hz to 20kHz 0 1dB Dynamic Range 114dB A weighted THD n 0 ...

Page 56: ...nce 24 bit 128x oversampling digital to analog converters One stereo headphone 1 8 analog output with high performance 24 bit 128x oversampling digital to analog converters Volume control for headphone output S PDIF digital I O with up to 24 bit resolution 24 bit data resolution maintained throughout entire signal path Multiple sample rates from 32kHz to 96kHz Variable sample rate feature lets you...

Page 57: ...Input Impedance 1 5Kohms Gain Adjustment 10 to 59dB Maximum Input Level at Minimum Gain 9dBu Guitar Line Input Level balanced TRS Dynamic Range 110dB A weighted THD n 0 001 A weighted Input Impedance 102Kohms Gain Adjustment 0 to 45dB Maximum Input Level at Minimum Gain 18dBu Normal Line Inputs x2 balanced TRS Frequency Response 20Hz to 20kHz 0 1dB Dynamic Range 113dB A weighted THD n 0 002 A weig...

Page 58: ...our balanced analog inputs with precision 24 bit 128x oversampling analog to digital converters Four balanced analog outputs with high performance 24 bit 128x oversampling digital to analog converters S PDIF digital I O with up to 24 bit resolution Trim control level meter and channel inserts for analog inputs 1 and 2 Headphone output with volume control 24 bit data resolution maintained throughou...

Page 59: ...Input Impedance 1 5Kohms Gain Adjustment 10 to 59dB Maximum Input Level at Minimum Gain 9dBu Guitar Line Input Level balanced TRS Dynamic Range 110dB A weighted THD n 0 001 A weighted Input Impedance 102Kohms Gain Adjustment 0 to 45dB Maximum Input Level at Minimum Gain 18dBu Normal Line Inputs x6 balanced TRS Frequency Response 20Hz to 20kHz 0 1dB Dynamic Range 113dB A weighted THD n 0 002 A weig...

Page 60: ...ts with precision 24 bit 128x oversampling analog to digital converters Eight balanced analog outputs with high performance 24 bit 128x oversampling digital to analog converters S PDIF digital I O with up to 24 bit resolution Trim control level meter and channel inserts for analog inputs 1 and 2 Headphone output with volume control On board 32 bit 1 6 gigaflop DSP 24 bit data resolution maintained...

Page 61: ... Range 114dB A weighted THD n 0 002 A weighted Nominal Output Level 4dBu or 10dBV Maximum Output Level 17 5dBu AudioFire12 Hardware Host Interface 1394a FireWire Twelve balanced analog inputs with precision 24 bit 128x oversampling analog to digital converters Twelve balanced analog outputs with high performance 24 bit 128x oversampling digital to analog converters Level meters on front panel for ...

Page 62: ...Appendix C Specifications 62 Appendix C Specifications Variable sample rate feature lets you select any rate between 32kHz 192kHz MIDI In Out Word clock I O ...

Page 63: ...ho Console 28 I input level meters 17 input trims 18 installation 12 installing Tracktion 25 M microphone preamp 17 MIDI 20 MIDI time code 20 21 MTC 20 21 P phantom power 17 professional mode 45 S S PDIF 19 20 36 39 45 46 S PDIF settings 36 safety instructions 3 sample rate 48 SCMS copy protection 45 specifications 55 stand alone mode 38 synchronization 39 46 synchronizing multiple devices 39 syst...